Role-Playing Revival Once Written Off As A Pastime Of Geeks, Dungeons & Dragons And Other Fantasy-Driven Games Are Enjoying Unprecedented Popularity

For sale on eBay, the online auction house:

One nameless, virtual elf, a high-powered character in the computer-based role-playing game Everquest. Includes Ethereal Mist boots, Cenobite belt, Old Sebilis key, Sarnak battle shield.

Top bid: $810.

Payment accepted through Western Union.

That’s 810 real dollars. For an imaginary character, to use in a popular computer role-playing game.

It’s been a quarter century since Dungeons & Dragons popularized role-playing games. The complex, interactive fantasies have come a long way since.

“I predicted that every war gamer and most of the military miniatures and sci-fi people will like this,” recalls Gary Gygax, who invented Dungeons & Dragons in the early ‘70s. “I bet we can sell 50,000 copies.”

To call that an understatement would be an understatement.

More than 24 million people have played Dungeons & Dragons since its inception in 1974, generating more than $1 billion in worldwide sales, according to company data.

The game’s highly anticipated third edition, released in August, peaked at No. 3 on Amazon.com’s yet-to-be-released list.

And game fans flocked to this weekend’s opening of the live-action, fantasy-adventure movie “Dungeons & Dragons.” At least two sequels are reportedly in the works.

More significant, though, has been Dungeons & Dragons’ impact on the creation of a multibillion-dollar role-playing industry. There are now games for role-players who like pirates, vampires, Japanese anime, Star Wars — just about any topic imaginable.

Game shops like Merlyn’s in downtown Spokane and Coeur d’Alene’s WarDen and Gamer’s Haven line their shelves with hundreds of role-playing rule books, character books, miniatures and multisided dice.

Merlyn’s, in fact, recently knocked out a wall to create more room for gamers.

“They’d stay here all night if they could,” says store owner John Waite.

Computer store salespeople say online role-playing games are some of their hottest products.

Players have stocked eBay with thousands of virtual role-playing characters and imaginary accessories available at auction.

At their core, role-playing games are small theatrical works. Players create characters and roll dice to determine how much strength, intelligence, beauty and other qualities their characters will have. A leader, called the game master, narrates the game and takes on essential roles not covered by the other players.

“It really entwines creativity, fantasy and adventure all into one,” says Bob Kelley, co-owner of Coeur d’Alene’s WarDen and Gamer’s Haven. “You’re being creative. You’re surrounded by people who are all creative. Plus, it’s fantasy. How often can you go up and fight a dragon and actually have a chance of winning?”

The back room at Merlyn’s was filled with gamers on a recent gloomy Saturday, some playing online, others playing board games and others playing traditional pencil-and-paper role-playing games.

One group of 14- to 27-year-olds males (who make up the majority of the role-playing market), surrounded themselves with Mountain Dew cans, scraps of paper and rule books. They would spend two hours crafting their characters before embarking on a high-seas adventure. Among them were the ship’s captain, a werepanther, an Amazon, a shapeshifting dragon and the all-powerful game master.

William DeLeon, 24, the 6-foot-8 Amazon woman in Saturday’s game has been role-playing since the late ‘80s.

DeLeon has glaucoma and can only make out shapes and movement. His friends help him read the dice.

“In real life, I have a bad vision disability, but none of my characters have it,” DeLeon says. “It helps me escape from reality.”

It was that escape, though, that generated considerable bad press for Dungeons & Dragons in its early years. Parents worried about the demonic aspects of the game and some teen suicides were blamed on players taking the fantasy too far.

Some gamers admit they’ve had to kick role-players out of a game for taking things too seriously. But they say the latest edition of Dungeons & Dragons has toned down its more controversial aspects dealing with gods, demons and magic.

Parents, though, should still make sure they’re aware of what games their children are playing and how much time they’re devoting to them, Spokane psychologist Dr. Mary Dietzen says.

“Most of the kids know the difference between reality and fantasy, but on the other hand, if they start spending an exorbitant number of hours in it, it can be problematic,” Dietzen says. “It’s a healthy thing to read a book and get into another world, but with Dungeons & Dragons and some of those games, there’s more violence. That’s where I get concerned.”

Role-playing almost died in the mid-1980s. Negative publicity; huge financial problems at Dungeons & Dragons’ parent company, TSR; and the release of a largely unpopular second edition of the game in 1989 fueled the downturn.

Renton, Wash.-based Wizards of the Coast, makers of the popular Magic: the Gathering card game, purchased TSR in 1997. That company has provided the financial and promotional support needed for a role-playing revival. Wizards of the Coast was bought by Hasbro last year.

Wizards runs the 70,000-member Role-Playing Games Association, which promotes play around the world through tournaments and other events.

“Fun is the ultimate goal,” says Scott Magner, local activities coordinator for the Role-Playing Games Association.

That was the same goal Gygax had decades ago when he created Chainmail, a medieval military game that later gave birth to Dungeons & Dragons. Back then, he had to order multisided dice from a California school-supply catalog. Now they come in every color, from the traditional six-sided to 20- and 30-sided dice that decide players’ fates.

“It’s a huge industry,” says Gygax, who lives in Lake Geneva, Wis.

Gygax got out of TSR in 1985 and now works as a free-lance writer and consultant. He’s written 12 books for a role-playing series called Legendary Adventure.

He says he gets e-mails everyday from Dungeons & Dragons players, thanking him for creating the game.

“There must be a human need for the mythic,” he says. “You can become that heroic figure.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: ON THE SILVER SCREEN Cinematic version debuts

Thora Birch (“American Beauty”), above, and Jeremy Irons (“The Man in the Iron Mask”) star in the live-action fantasy-adventure film “Dungeons & Dragons,” which opened Friday.

The film pits an elite group of magic users called Mages against the lowly commoners. Birch plays Empress Savina, who wants equality for all, but Irons, as the evil Profion, tries to depose her.

Scepters, mythical rods, thieves, dragons, dwarves and elves all play important parts in the special-effects-laden film’s outcome.